Apple is finally letting green bubbles send message reactions

Illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge

Apple is showing some love to Android users by finally displaying their message reactions correctly. Now when an Android user reacts to an RCS message from an iOS user, the selected emoji will appear in line with the message bubble on iOS — instead of archaically appearing as a separate line like this: “ to ‘that wasn’t supposed to happen.’”

The Verge sent test messages and emoji reactions between iPhones running iOS 18.1 and different Android phones, confirming both devices now display reactions as intended. It’s unclear when this change happened or whose side — Google or Apple — had to make adjustments to get it working.

When RCS first launched widely on iOS in September, message reactions from Android users still weren’t being...

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Upgrade your iPhone’s weak flash with this adjustable MagSafe light

The Sol 5 includes color temperature adjustments to help set a mood in a photo. | Image: Harlowe

Harlowe’s Sol 5 is a three-inch extending light that attaches to the MagSafe mount on your iPhone to improve the quality of your photos and selfies. It’s available now for $79 or for $159 as part of a travel kit that includes a softbox diffuser to help reduce harsh shadows.

The Sol 5 isn’t a new idea. When the iPhone 12 debuted with MagSafe it opened the flood gates for new accessories including similar lights that could stay attached to the back of the phone — ready to improve a photo at a moment’s notice. What the Sol 5 appears to do better is offer more flexibility and control.

The Sol 5’s glowing puckis connected to its magnetic mount with a short arm that extends its reach and lets it swivel 180 degrees and angle as needed.That...

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AOL’s ‘You’ve Got Mail’ voice, Elwood Edwards, dies at age 74

Image: AOL via YouTube

Elwood Edwards, the voice of AOL’s “You’ve Got Mail” greeting, has died at age 74 after a long illness, according to local Ohio news station WKYC, where he was employed for many years.

During a 2016 interview, Edwards recounted how he became the voice of AOL. His wife, who worked at Quantum Computer Services (which later became AOL), heard that the company was looking to add a voice to its software. “I’d been an announcer throughout my entire broadcasting career, and she volunteered me,” Edwards said.

In 1989, Edwards recorded the once-ubiquitous phrase, along with “Welcome,” “Files done,” and “Goodbye” on a cassette tape for just $200. “It started off as a test just to see if it would catch on, and lo and behold, in the mid-90s, it had...

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A whole bunch of Sega classics are being delisted

Image: Sega

Sega is planning to delist a lot of its classic games from digital storefronts as of December 6th at 11:59PM PT.

Steam will be affected the most, losing 62 titles including Crazy Taxi, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Jet Set Radio, NiGHTS into Dreams, and Sonic 3D Blast. Sega is pulling 12 titles from the Xbox store. The Nintendo eShop and the PlayStation Store will “just” lose SEGA Genesis Classics — but that title includes more than 50 old Genesis games, so it still means a lot will be unavailable. You can see the full lists of what’s getting pulled on a Sega support page.

Any games that you have purchased will still be available to download and play after they’re delisted from the storefronts, so if you’ve had your eye on any of...

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David Zaslav says Trump will fuel big media mergers

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav thinks putting Donald Trump back in the White House could offer a friendlier environment for major media mergers. “We have an upcoming new administration,” Zaslav said during an earnings call on Thursday. “It’s too early to tell, but it may offer a pace of change and an opportunity for consolidation that may be quite different.”

Zaslav made the statement in response to a question about streaming partnerships, saying changes under the Trump administration could have “a real positive and accelerated impact” on the entertainment industry. With more competition than ever in streaming, it’s getting harder for services to get a viewer’s undivided attention.

“This is an industry that really needs to...

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The latest AirPods Pro are on sale for $1 shy of their all-time low today

Apple’s AirPods are an excellent option for iPhone owners looking for noise-canceling earbuds. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Black Friday might technically be a 24-hour event, but in reality, it’s more like a month-long affair. That’s because many retailers have already begun their sales, including Best Buy, which is dropping impressive deals ahead of its early sales event tomorrow. Today only, for example, Best Buy is offering the second-gen AirPods Pro with a USB-C for $169.99 ($80 off), which is just $1 shy of their lowest price to date. Walmart is also matching Best Buy’s pricing, though the latter retailer won’t begin offering Black Friday deals until November 11th.

The current promo drops Apple’s highest-end earbuds to roughly the same price as the open-style AirPods 4 with ANC, which are currently on sale for $168.99 ($11 off). That being said, Apple’s...

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Mass Effect is Amazon’s next video game adaptation

Image: BioWare

After its success with Fallout and the recently released Like A Dragon: Yakuza show, Mass Effect is the next game Amazon wants to adapt. According to Variety, a show based on BioWare’s military space opera RPG is officially in production at Amazon MGM Studios. Variety has reported that F9: The Fast Saga writer Daniel Casey has signed on to write the show with BioWare producer Mike Gamble serving as executive produce along with Ari Arad.

Though BioWare released the Mass Effect Legendary Edition — a collection of the first three games updated for modern consoles — back in 2021, the Mass Effect series hasn’t had an original entry since the release of Mass Effect: Andromeda back in 2017. After Andromeda, BioWare released Anthem, a...

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You can now share streaming music directly to TikTok posts

Image: TikTok

A new “Share to TikTok” feature in Spotify and Apple Music is making it easier for users to share songs, playlists, audiobooks, and more directly in content on the video platform.

Using the integrations, TikTok users can create a direct link to content on the streaming platforms, similar to how they can share songs directly on Instagram Stories. When a user shares a Spotify track, for example, they can choose whether the song will appear as a video, photo, or Story post on TikTok. Viewers of the content can then click the song and navigate directly back to their preferred music app.

It creates an easy link between TikTok and content on other platforms — previously if you wanted to share a playlist you made, you’d have to send a link via...

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Jeff Bezos says he’s a climate guy — why is he kissing the ring?

Image: Laura Normand / The Verge

Jeff Bezos might just be the biggest climate philanthropist out there, which is what makes his swift embrace of Donald Trump as the next US president particularly cringeworthy.

“Wishing @realDonaldTrump all success in leading and uniting the America we all love,” Bezos posted on X, hours after Trump declared victory.

The Amazon founder and chair launched his Bezos Earth Fund in 2020, committing $10 billion to funding action on climate change. The fund’s website describes it as “the largest philanthropic commitment ever to fight climate change and protect nature.”

Big congratulations to our 45th and now 47th President on an extraordinary political comeback and decisive victory. No nation has bigger opportunities. Wishing @...

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8BitDo now sells its retro mechanical keyboards with integrated number pads

The 8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard will be available starting on December 12th, 2024. | Image: 8BitDo

8BitDo has introduced a new version of the Retro Mechanical Keyboard it debuted last July with its original tenkeyless layout now expanded to include an integrated number pad. The new 8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard is available for preorder now through Amazon for $119.99 — $20 more expensive than the original — with the same NES or Famicom theming. Availability is expected to start on December 12th, 2024.

The new 108-key version of the keyboard uses the same hot-swappable Kailh Box White V2 switches as the tenkeyless version, paired with dye-sub PBT keycaps. The integrated numpad includes additional Windows shortcut keys, a calculator lock button, and a screen lock button. The 8BitDo Retro 108 Mechanical Keyboard’s compatibility is...

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Meta is opening a pop-up retail store for the Ray-Ban Meta glasses

The store will be around from November 8th to December 31st. | Image: Meta

Meta announced it is opening up Meta Lab, a pop-up experiential retail space for its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses starting November 8th in Los Angeles. The temporary store will be around through the end of the year and allow customers to try out the glasses and customize their glasses cases as they shop. Meta Lab will also have local events with various creators, including stand-up comedians, live podcasts, and cooking classes.

This particular retail store is an extension of the Meta Lab experience earlier this year at Connect 2024. At that time, Meta had unveiled the transparent versions of its Ray-Bans. The company says that over 90 percent of Connect attendees had attended, with more than 25 percent then purchasing a pair. It appears...

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Audi launches a new brand in China without the four-ring logo

The new “AUDI” logo and E concept for China. | Image: Audi

Audi is making a big change to its branding for the Chinese market with a new logo that lacks the automaker’s famous four-ring emblem. Today in Shanghai, the company showed off the new “AUDI” logo — yes, it’s just Audi in all caps — on the front of a new E concept electric Sportback that notably lacks its broadly used “E-Tron” branding.

In a press release, Audi’s CEO Gernot Döllner said it’s hoping to tap into China’s “more tech-savvy” customers who “expect leading connectivity as well as automated driving.” Reuters reported in August that Audi was planning a rebrand for China, where the automaker sold less than 10,000 vehicles in the country in the first half of 2024.

Image: Audi

Image: Audi

Audi...

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iRobot is laying off staff for the second time this year

Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge

iRobot, the parent company of robovac maker Roomba, is laying off around 105 employees. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission spotted by TechCrunch, iRobot says the job cuts will impact 16 percent of its current workforce.

The company announced the news as part of its earnings report released on Wednesday. “These moves, while challenging, have fundamentally changed the way we work with our partners to efficiently develop and build our robots,” iRobot CEO Gary Cohen said during an earnings call.

In January, iRobot laid off 350 workers after Amazon’s deal to acquire the company fell through. The company also appointed Cohen as CEO, who shut down Roomba’s subscription service iRobot Select.

Additionally, Cohen said the...

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Star Wars is reportedly getting a new film trilogy

Image: Disney / Lucasfilm

The future of Star Wars movies just got a little more confusing. Deadline and Variety both report that Lucasfilm has tapped Simon Kinberg, best-known for his work on the X-Men films, to write and develop a new Star Wars trilogy. Kinberg will be working alongside Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy to produce them, according to the reports.

Just what that trilogy will look like is unclear. Deadline says it could a continuation of the Skywalker story, which would make these episodes 10-12. But it could also be a brand-new saga that is tied in part to the other three Star Wars movies that Lucasfilm announced last year, which will be directed by James Mangold, Dave Filoni, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Lucasfilm previously said that Obaid-Chinoy’s...

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The Fitbit Inspire 3 is down to just $70, its best price yet

The Fitbit Inspire 3 offers a bright, easy-to-read OLED display, which is a nice perk at this price. | Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge

Google’s Pixel Watch 3 is still down to a record low price, but honestly not everybody wants to — or even needs to — fork out $275 on a smartwatch. That’s especially true if all you really need is something to help you keeps tabs on basic health and fitness metrics basics. The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a better, more affordable alternative, one that’s currently down to its best price of $69.95 ($30 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Google.

The comfortable tracker does a good job of delivering the essentials, helping you accurately keep tabs of basic health and fitness metrics while lasting up to 10 days on a single charge. It also comes with some extra conveniences found in pricier trackers, from a bright OLED screen to features like irregular...

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Google could add AI replies to its handy call-screening feature

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Google could soon add “AI Replies” to the Phone app’s call-screening feature. A line of code spotted by 9to5Google suggests the app will generate “new AI-powered smart replies” based on how someone responds to the call screen.

Google widely rolled out its call-screening feature in Android 12. It allows you to filter calls and have Google Assistant respond with an audio message to ask who’s calling, rather than having to pick up the call yourself. Late last year, Google added “contextual replies,” which use the context of someone’s call to serve up customized audio responses. It also updated its call-screening feature in March with a way to respond even when the caller is silent.

Image: Google

These are some of the...

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Microsoft Outlook now has dynamic AI-powered themes

Image: Microsoft

Microsoft is adding AI-powered themes to Outlook today. Dubbed “Themes by Copilot,” this AI-powered feature will require a Copilot Pro or business license to add a more personalized look to Microsoft’s email client.

The themes will appear across Outlook for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and on the web, and they’re designed to make “Outlook more beautiful and approachable,” according to Microsoft.

You’ll be able to create a theme based on the weather or locations, and they can dynamically update every few hours, each day, weekly, or monthly. “If you’ve enabled location permissions in Outlook, the My Location theme will bring you imagery uniquely inspired by your locale, dynamically updating for you as you head out the door on a trip or...

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The gorgeous Mononoke movie is coming to Netflix later this month

Netflix

Toei’s Mononoke the Movie: Phantom in the Rain from director Kenji Nakamura is one of this year’s most visually stunning anime films, and it’s making its way to Netflix in just a few weeks.

Like the Mononoke series, Phantom in the Rain tells the tale of an unnamed merchant (Hiroshi Kamiya) who, in addition to selling medicines, specializes in exorcizing “mononoke” — malevolent spirits who terrorize the living. When the Medicine Seller arrives at the imperial palace, his senses tell him that a mononoke is lurking somewhere deep within the building’s innermost chambers.

As a man, the Medicine Seller is forbidden from stepping foot inside of the imperial harem of women like Asa (Tomoyo Kurosawa) and Kame (Aoi Yūki), who have gathered in...

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What’s really behind Big Tech’s return-to-office mandates?

Image: The Verge; Getty Images

Today, we’re talking about work. Specifically, where we work, how our expectations of working remotely were radically changed by the covid-19 pandemic, and how those expectations feel like they’re on the verge of changing yet again. For many people, the pendulum has swung wildly between working fully remote and now a push to return to the office from their bosses, and there are a lot of theories about what might be motivating big companies to try and bring everyone back.

Here on Decoder, I’ve talked to lots of CEOs about the benefits of working fully remote versus hybrid or having everybody back in the office over the past several years, and I’ve heard the full spectrum of responses. Some executives are adamant that people need to be in...

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No Man’s Sky adds cross-saves and PS5 Pro support

Image: Hello Games

The developers at Hello Games are back with yet another update for No Man’s Sky. Starting today, a select number of users will have the ability to play around in their NMS universe across a collection of platforms with the new cross-save functionality. According to the announcement, adding cross-saving was a bit of an undertaking for the development team.

“It’s very common for players to rack up thousands of hours of saves,” the announcement reads. “Adding cross-save for us is a little bit like moving house, the longer people have lived there the more complicated it is to move them.”

No Man’s Sky now supports cross-saves across PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Series S/X, Xbox Game Pass, PC, Steam Deck, PSVR 1 / 2, PCVR, GOG, and Nintendo...

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Nikon’s entry-level Z50II adds a dedicated button for color styles

The Nikon Z50II uses the same APS-C sensor as the original, but upgraded with a faster image processing engine. | Image: Nikon

Nikon has announced a new version of its entry-level Z50 mirrorless camera. The Z50II offers improved shooting capabilities thanks to a new image processing engine, and a selection of 31 “film-inspired looks” quickly accessible through a dedicated button. It will be available starting in late November for $909.95 for the camera body alone, but can also be bundled with lenses. Adding a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens will boost the price to $1049.95, while a bundle with both a 16-50mm and a 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR lens will be $1,299.95.

That dedicated Picture Control button — the first on any Nikon camera — is the Z50II’s most exciting upgrade. Pressing it enables a real-time preview of “up to 31 built-in color presets” so you can see how each...

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Apple’s new AirPlay options for macOS add a little more privacy

Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

The latest macOS beta changes the options you’ll see when you use AirPlay to mirror your screen. As reported by MacRumors, the new beta version of macOS Sequoia 15.2 lets you select a single window or app on your Mac to display on another screen, like your TV — or maybe something else, like a Vision Pro headset or Apple’s rumored smart display.

macOS 15.2 is expected to be released publicly in early December. It also brings new Apple Intelligence features, including Image Playground and ChatGPT integration for Siri. It’s also getting a new weather menu item that can give you the outside temperature at a glance.

The new AirPlay experience includes a new menu pop-up asking “what do you want to show” on Apple TV, with three large buttons...

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Max is getting ready for its own password-sharing crackdown

Cath Virginia / The Verge

Max will kick off its password-sharing crackdown over the next few months with “very soft messaging” surrounding the change. During Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday, chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels said this initial rollout will be followed by more progress in 2025 and 2026.

Wiedenfels called password sharing “a form of price rises,” as the company is “asking members who have not signed up, or multi-household members to pay a little bit more.” This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about Max’s interest in password sharing, but now we have more details about when — and how — it will all begin.

In March, JB Perrette, Warner Bros. Discovery’s head of global streaming and games, said Max will start its crackdown...

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Death Stranding gets a surprise launch on Xbox

Image: Kojima Productions

It took a few years, but Sam Porter Bridges has finally trekked his way to Xbox. Kojima Productions announced today that the director’s cut of Death Stranding is now available on the Xbox Series X / S. At launch, for “a limited time,” the port will be available for 50 percent off.

Death Stranding first launched in 2019, as Hideo Kojima’s first release after going independent, following a messy split with Konami. The director’s cut — which isn’t really a director’s cut — launched two years later on the PS5, and the game has also been ported to PC, Mac, and iOS. As part of today’s announcement, the studio also launched the game on Luna, Amazon’s fledgling game streaming service.

The news comes as Kojima Productions is expanding quite a bit...

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Apple Mac Mini M4 review: a tiny wonder

Now the best value in Apple’s lineup, the Mac Mini takes its ideal form with an impressively small design that compromises on very little.

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Apple MacBook Pro M4 review: the Pro for everyone

More ports, more RAM, a nicer screen, and a better webcam for a little less money.

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Nvidia to cap game streaming hours on GeForce Now instead of raising fees

Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge

Nvidia is announcing some big changes to its GeForce Now cloud streaming service today. The existing Priority membership is being renamed to Performance, with 1440p streaming, ultrawide resolution support, and the ability to save graphics settings across streaming sessions. Nvidia is also introducing a 100-hour monthly playtime cap for new Performance or Ultimate GeForce Now members starting on January 1st, 2025.

New GeForce Now members that sign up for the service from 2025 onward will have a cap on monthly playtime set at 100 hours. That works out to around three hours of usage every day of the month, and Nvidia says it’s putting the cap in place to avoid increasing membership prices “in the foreseeable future.”

Image:...

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Blink’s newest hub takes its security cameras beyond Wi-Fi

The Blink Sync Module XR extends the range of Blink’s flagship outdoor camera beyond Wi-Fi. | Image: Blink

Amazon’s budget smart security camera company Blink has announced the availability of its new Sync Module XR. The third generation of its system hub, the XR can extend the range of its battery-powered Blink Outdoor 4 cameras up to 400 feet, thanks to a new proprietary long-range radio embedded in its custom-built silicon. But the increase in range does come with a tradeoff in video quality.

The Sync Module XR costs $59.99 and, at launch, is being sold in a bundle with a free Outdoor 4 camera (regularly $99). A Wi-Fi bridge for Blink cameras, the module can extend coverage for new and existing Outdoor 4 cameras up to 250 feet in XR mode and 400 feet in XR Plus mode. That’s four times the range of Blink’s current Sync Module 2, Blink’s...

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Archer Aviation gets another big order for its futuristic air taxis

Image: Archer

Archer Aviation, a leading electric flight company based in San Jose, California, is bringing its futuristic air taxis to Japan. The company will sell 100 of its Midnight battery-powered aircraft to Soracle, a joint venture between Japan Airlines and Sumitomo Corporation, in a deal valued approximately at $500 million.

Archer says that Soracle plans on deploying its aircraft — which look like a cross between a drone and a helicopter — “in cities where existing ground transportation is constrained by traffic or geographic barriers,” the company said. Still, Archer will need to achieve “certain milestones in advanced aircraft delivery” before Soracle approves pre-delivery payments.

“in cities where existing ground transportation is...

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Matter 1.4 tries to set the smart home standard back on track

Illustration: The Verge

It’s been two long years since the launch of Matter — the one smart home standard designed to rule them all — and there’s been a fair amount of disappointment around a sometimes buggy rollout, slow adoption by companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google, and frustrating set-up experiences.

However, the launch of the Matter 1.4 specification this week shows some signs that the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA, the organization behind Matter) is using more sticks and fewer carrots to get the smart home industry coalition to cooperate.

The new spec introduces “enhanced multi-admin,” an improvement on multi-admin — the much-touted interoperability feature that means your Matter smart light can work in multiple ecosystems simultaneously....

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